Funding status · checked 26 September 2026
PSDS and Solar Canopies: The Scheme Closed in November 2024
If you have found this page because a business case, a consultant's report or a supplier's proposal told you the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme would pay for a solar canopy, the position is simple: PSDS closed to new applications in November 2024 and no further window has been announced. This page sets out what the scheme actually was, why a car park canopy was rarely fundable through it even while it was open, and which routes a public body can genuinely use now.
Current status
- Closed to new applications since November 2024. Phases 1 to 4 only; no successor announced.
- Phase 4 delivery runs to 2027-28 — but only for bodies that bid before the window shut.
- It was heat-led. Solar was an associated measure alongside replacing fossil-fuel heating, not a standalone grant for canopies.
- There is no general Salix loan scheme for English public bodies. Wales and Scotland have their own routes.
- Source: gov.uk PSDS collection page, last updated 13 March 2025.
What PSDS was, phase by phase
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was a capital grant programme funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and administered by Salix Finance, aimed at decarbonising heat in public sector buildings in England. It ran in four phases:
| Phase | Financial years | Value | Application status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 2020-21 to 2021-22 | £1 billion | Closed |
| Phase 2 | 2021-22 | £75 million | Closed |
| Phase 3 | 2022-23 to 2025-26 | Over £1.425 billion across multiple windows | Closed — 3a November 2021, 3b October 2022, 3c November 2023 |
| Phase 4 | 2025-26 to 2027-28 | Allocations continue to be delivered | Closed to new applications, November 2024 |
The distinction that causes most of the confusion is between the delivery period and the application window. Phase 4 covers financial years 2025-26 to 2027-28, so money is still flowing and projects are still completing — which is why plenty of published material still describes PSDS in the present tense. But the window to bid for that money shut in November 2024. A body that did not apply then cannot join now.
Why a solar canopy was rarely a PSDS project
Even while windows were open, "PSDS will pay up to 100% for your car park canopy" was not an accurate description of the scheme. PSDS was heat-led. Its purpose was decarbonising heating in public buildings — replacing gas and oil boilers with low-carbon heat — with associated measures, including solar PV, fundable as part of a bid whose primary measure was that heat replacement in the same building.
A canopy over a staff or visitor car park, with no heat measure attached, was not what the scheme was designed to buy. Where canopies were funded, it was as generation associated with a building whose heating was being decarbonised in the same bid, with output credited to that building. So a proposal that put a canopy forward as a standalone PSDS project was misdescribing the scheme, and a business case built on 100% grant cover for a canopy alone was optimistic even in 2023.
The Salix loan confusion
A very common line in canopy proposals is that Salix will lend the balance of the capital interest-free, repaid from energy savings. It is worth being precise, because the arithmetic in those proposals is often specific and confident.
Salix administered PSDS on behalf of DESNZ. Administering a grant scheme is not the same as operating a loan facility. Interest-free public sector lending does exist in the devolved nations — Scotland through SEELS, and Wales through the Wales Funding Programme, which Salix lists as open for applications. For English public bodies there is no equivalent general scheme. If an English business case shows a 0% Salix loan covering the balance of a canopy, that line needs replacing rather than checking.
What a public body can actually use
| Route | Who | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wales Funding Programme | Welsh public sector bodies | Open for applications (Salix) | Loan funding for energy efficiency and decarbonisation, with an additional £9 million Great British Energy allocation delivering alongside it. There is no English equivalent. |
| Digarbon | Welsh tertiary education | Delivering (Round 3 closed) | A £20 million loan scheme for decarbonisation in the tertiary education sector. |
| Welsh Government Energy Service grants | Welsh public sector and community groups | Several schemes listed | Includes top-up funding for renewable energy projects (Ymestyn) and the smart local energy systems capital grant (Ynni Cymru). Amounts and windows are on the individual scheme pages, not the index. |
| Business rates exception | All three nations | Automatic, to 31 March 2035 | Qualifying on-site renewable generation plant is excepted from rating valuations. No application needed, which makes it the most reliable item in a public-sector case. |
| Workplace Charging Scheme | Any employer, including public bodies | Open to 31 March 2027 | £500 per socket, up to 40 sockets per applicant, where the canopy carries EV charging. The education strand is worth £2,000 per socket. |
| PPA or lease | Any body with no capital | Commercially available | A third party funds and owns the canopy and you buy the generated units. Now the most common route for a canopy with no grant behind it. The trade is a long contract term and a lower net saving than ownership. |
Note what is missing from that table: a capital grant for an English public body. That is the honest position, and it is why some English canopy schemes that were viable on paper in 2024 have stalled. The routes that remain are a rates exception you get automatically, a modest per-socket EV grant, and structures that move the capital onto someone else's balance sheet. Full detail on our solar canopy grants and funding page.
Capital allowances do not help most public bodies, because a local authority, NHS trust, academy trust or charity is not a corporation tax payer — though they may be relevant to a taxable trading subsidiary. The mechanics are on our commercial solar carport cost page.
If a new phase is announced
Nothing suggests one is imminent, but the evidence pack a bid needed has not changed and is worth holding ready, because windows historically opened and closed inside a few weeks:
- Twelve months of half-hourly consumption data for the relevant MPANs.
- A canopy design with system size in kWp and a modelled annual yield.
- A carbon baseline and projected saving, and a whole-life financial appraisal.
- A site plan showing the canopy footprint and access.
- The confirmed consent route — Class OA prior approval, Class 9M, or a full application.
- Crucially, if the scheme stays heat-led: the heat measure the generation is associated with.
Holding that pack current costs little. Building a delivery programme around a scheme that has been shut for nearly two years costs a great deal.
Five claims to be wary of
All five appear in current canopy proposals. All five describe a scheme that closed to new applications in November 2024.
| Claim you will see | What the source says |
|---|---|
| "PSDS can fund up to 100% of a solar canopy." | The scheme closed to new applications in November 2024. It was also heat-led: solar was fundable as part of a bid whose primary measure was replacing fossil-fuel heating in the same building, so a standalone canopy was never what the scheme was designed to buy. |
| "PSDS Phase 4 runs to 2028, so there is still time to apply." | Phase 4 covers financial years 2025-26 to 2027-28 for delivery, by bodies whose bids succeeded before the window shut in November 2024. The delivery period being open is not the same as the application window being open. |
| "Salix provides interest-free loans to English public bodies for solar." | Salix administered PSDS for DESNZ, which is not a loan facility. Interest-free lending exists in the devolved nations — Scotland through SEELS and Wales through the Wales Funding Programme — but there is no equivalent general scheme for English public bodies. |
| "NHS trusts get 100%, schools 50-80%, universities 30-60%." | No such published grant percentages by body type ever existed. Bids were assessed on carbon saved per pound of public funding, not on a scale set by organisation type. |
| "A new phase is expected shortly." | No further phase has been announced. The gov.uk PSDS collection page lists Phases 1 to 4 only and was last updated on 13 March 2025. Plan on the routes that exist; keep an evidence pack ready in case that changes. |
PSDS and solar canopies: questions
Is PSDS still open for solar canopy applications?
No. The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme closed to new applications in November 2024. Phase 4 allocations are still being paid out to bodies whose bids succeeded before that point, and that phase covers financial years 2025-26 to 2027-28 — but there is no open application window and no further phase has been announced. The gov.uk PSDS collection page lists Phases 1 to 4 only and was last updated on 13 March 2025.
Could PSDS ever fund a car park solar canopy on its own?
Not really, and this is widely misdescribed. PSDS was heat-led: the scheme funded decarbonisation of heating, with associated measures — including solar PV — fundable as part of a bid whose primary measure was replacing fossil-fuel heating in the same building. A canopy over a car park, with no heat measure attached, was not the thing the scheme was designed to buy. So "PSDS pays up to 100% for a solar canopy" was an overstatement even while a window was open.
What should we do with a business case that assumed PSDS?
Strip out the grant line and any Salix loan line, then re-run the case on ownership versus a PPA or lease. Re-check the planning route, because in England a canopy over off-street non-domestic parking has had its own permitted development right — Class OA, subject to prior approval — since December 2023, which may not have been in the original case. Confirm the grid position early, since a G99 application is free to start and usually sets the programme. And keep the evidence pack current so that if a successor scheme is announced you can bid inside a short window rather than starting from nothing.
Does Salix still lend to public bodies?
Salix administers schemes on behalf of government, and what is available depends on the nation. In Wales, Salix lists the Wales Funding Programme as open for applications, with a £9 million Great British Energy addition delivering and Digarbon serving tertiary education. In Scotland, interest-free lending is available through SEELS. For English public bodies there is no equivalent general loan scheme — administering PSDS was not the same thing as running a loan facility, which is the source of most of the confusion.
What is the most reliable funding item for a public sector canopy now?
The business rates exception, because it needs no application and no competitive process: qualifying on-site renewable generation plant is excepted from rating valuations until 31 March 2035. After that, the Workplace Charging Scheme where the canopy carries EV charging, at £500 per socket up to 40 sockets to 31 March 2027, with the education strand at £2,000 per socket. Beyond those, a PPA or lease is the route that does not depend on a grant existing.
Sources
All checked on 26 September 2026.
- gov.uk — Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme collection (Phases 1–4; last updated 13 March 2025)
- Salix — public sector funding schemes in Wales
- Welsh Government Energy Service — grants index
- S.I. 2022/405 — renewables plant excepted from rating valuations to 31 March 2035
- OZEV — Workplace Charging Scheme
- S.I. 2023/1279 — Class OA permitted development right
This is general information, not funding or procurement advice. This site is published by SEO Dons Ltd; we are not an installer and we do not administer any grant scheme.
Re-run a stalled canopy case on what is actually available
The free assessment returns indicative capacity, a modelled generation figure for your location, the consent route and the grid position — the inputs a post-PSDS business case needs.
Free canopy feasibility study
Get your site-specific canopy figures — within 5 working days
Tell us your car park size and we return a desk-based feasibility study: indicative system size in kWp, a PVSyst-modelled annual generation figure, turnkey capital cost band, first-year Annual Investment Allowance saving, projected payback, and any planning or DNO issues we can see from the outset. No site visit needed to start.